Animal Liver Flavor

Animal liver flavor is a flavoring that gives food a liver taste, made from liver of an animal the label does not name. AAFCO says a flavor named on a pet food label must come from a listed ingredient that provides that flavor. We found no authority that flags this flavoring at the small amounts used in dry food. For a cat with allergies or another medical condition, ask your veterinarian about any food with unnamed animal ingredients.

Source: aafco.org

Animal liver flavor is a concentrated liver-based flavoring added to cat food so it smells and tastes like liver. Many cats respond well to that taste, so makers use small amounts of it to help cats accept dry kibble. The word "animal" means the label does not say which species the liver came from. It is there for taste, and it adds very little nutrition in the amounts used.

In practice the two names tell you about the same thing: neither one names the species. "Animal liver flavor" says the liver came from an animal, while plain "liver flavor" leaves even that implied. Only a name like "chicken liver flavor" tells you the source. FDA requires ingredients to be listed by a common or usual name, and makers may pick a generic one when the source varies.

Source: fda.gov

A listed ingredient must provide the liver flavor, but the label does not say how much liver is behind it. AAFCO's flavor rule allows a flavor to be named on a pet food as long as a listed ingredient provides it, with no minimum percentage. That is different from a food named "with liver," which AAFCO says needs at least 3% of that ingredient. AAFCO notes a product does not need a large amount of an ingredient that only provides flavor.

Source: aafco.org

Pettings gives animal liver flavor 2 out of 5 and lists it as a flavoring. It appears on 2 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. Flavorings help with taste, and a score of 2 reflects that this one adds little nutrition and does not name its source animal. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.